BRING. FEDS. BACK. NOW.

[79Royal]

As I said yesterday the notion that players with the sort of experience of Griff, Harte and Khiz need a 24 year old to tell them what to do or they'll fall apart is as laughable as the English idea that the Captaincy is the most important thing in football is outdated.

Totally agree with you here, but it's games like yesterday when a captain earns his corn. Mills was found wanting yesterday, not just in his personal performance which has to be one of the worst by any Reading player this season, but also as captain. When you want, no need, someone to stand up and be counted, he went missing and just wiped his brow on his sleeve.

I agree that captains aren't as important as they used to be, but a good captain is worth his weight in gold. Mills just isn't cut out for it. Not everybody is.

FWIW, I don't think there's much between McCarthy or Federici and sound arguments can be made for the merits of both. What a nice position for us to be in!

[sandman]

Captaincy has never been important nevermind "as important as it used to be" and the only thing it's worth it's weight in is the amount of bullsh*t spouted about it by the people of this country. For what it is worth the player with the most experience should be captain imo but really you could give it to Kingsley and it wouldn't make a difference.

[West Stand Man]

Anyone who seriously believes that captaincy is unimportant clearly hasn't played football or any other sport at a decent level.

[Svlad Cjelli]

Anyone who seriously believes that captaincy is unimportant clearly hasn't played football or any other sport at a decent level.

It's important - but not important enough to make you choose an inferior player who is a good captain ahead of a superior player.

[sandman]

Anyone who seriously believes that captaincy is unimportant clearly hasn't played football or any other sport at a decent level.

Most of the other countries in the world just pick the most experienced player and that's if they can be bothered at all (I've heard of teams who put the names in a hat). The only sport where captaincy is really important is Cricket.

Capello for instance is bemused by the importance that people put on what is essentially a piece of material that goes around your arm and in his first press conference cited Del Piero and Maldini as examples of the most experienced being the Captain. At Barca it's Puyol at Madrid Iker, before him Raul and before him Hierro.

I'll concede that in football it is important off the pitch as players can go to the captain if they have a problem (Ivar is still club captain at Reading probably for the reason that he is guess what? The most experienced player).However, on the pitch if you're a high level player and you need to rely on one man to get you geed up during a game then you are in trouble because 11 players have to stand up and be counted hence the reason it's a team game. Your over reliance on a captain is probably why you only got to a decent level and not a high one.

[The Goat was fed]

This is probably the worst thread I've ever had the misfortune of reading on HNA?

If you were at Leeds, you will have seen one of the finest performances from a Reading goalkeeper since the days of Shaka Hislop. He commanded his area, pulled off sensational saves and his distribution was responsible for two attacking moves. Have you also noticed how so many shots seem to go straight at him? That is a sign of great positioning. I had the honour of spending half a day with Peter Shilton a couple of weeks back (get me) and he said the best goalkeepers don't save the ball, the ball comes to them. Bit of a corny phrase, but you get the idea.

More importantly, his preference for throwing the ball means that we have adopted a more attractive and more effective style of football. I also bumped into Jay Tabb in Sainsbury's week before last (been a good month for footballer interaction) and he said that Alex McCarthy's number one fan at the club is Jimmy Kebe. How often do you see Jimmy Kebe launching a counter attack from a Federici kick? It is frankly laughable that fans think Federici has better distribution - you have all been bought by the fact he kicks it in a way you've seen on Fifa 2011. It so frequently amounts to bugger all!

It is not a coincidence that his run in the team has coincided with our run in the league. Of course he is not the soul reason, but he is a great foundation and has allowed us to nick games. Federici has cost us games this season. Alex McCarthy is a better option now and will be an even better option in the future. I am willing to wager anyone that he will be winning England caps in the next 5 years.

[Snowball]

Anyone who seriously believes that captaincy is unimportant clearly hasn't played football or any other sport at a decent level.

It's important - but not important enough to make you choose an inferior player who is a good captain ahead of a superior player.

Disagree with this. Provided the player is good enough to command respect (ie not useless)play better
there are often players who, as players are just OK, but have leadership qualities (and nous)
and can make others play better.

You get the same thing with managers. Many great players are poor captains
and don't cut it as managers. Many ordinary players may great captains and
go on to be top managers.

Some players can whip their mates up to play better by encouragement, or by the
]right kind of rollocking. My impression is, with Mills, they'd just say oxf*rd off.

[Snowball]

This is probably the worst thread I've ever had the misfortune of reading on HNA?

If you were at Leeds, you will have seen one of the finest performances from a Reading goalkeeper since the days of Shaka Hislop. He commanded his area, pulled off sensational saves and his distribution was responsible for two attacking moves. Have you also noticed how so many shots seem to go straight at him? That is a sign of great positioning. I had the honour of spending half a day with Peter Shilton a couple of weeks back (get me) and he said the best goalkeepers don't save the ball, the ball comes to them. Bit of a corny phrase, but you get the idea.

More importantly, his preference for throwing the ball means that we have adopted a more attractive and more effective style of football. I also bumped into Jay Tabb in Sainsbury's week before last (been a good month for footballer interaction) and he said that Alex McCarthy's number one fan at the club is Jimmy Kebe. How often do you see Jimmy Kebe launching a counter attack from a Federici kick? It is frankly laughable that fans think Federici has better distribution - you have all been bought by the fact he kicks it in a way you've seen on Fifa 2011. It so frequently amounts to bugger all!

It is not a coincidence that his run in the team has coincided with our run in the league. Of course he is not the soul reason, but he is a great foundation and has allowed us to nick games. Federici has cost us games this season. Alex McCarthy is a better option now and will be an even better option in the future. I am willing to wager anyone that he will be winning England caps in the next 5 years.

You read it there second

[Negative_Jeff]

This is probably the worst thread I've ever had the misfortune of reading on HNA?

If you were at Leeds, you will have seen one of the finest performances from a Reading goalkeeper since the days of Shaka Hislop. He commanded his area, pulled off sensational saves and his distribution was responsible for two attacking moves. Have you also noticed how so many shots seem to go straight at him? That is a sign of great positioning. I had the honour of spending half a day with Peter Shilton a couple of weeks back (get me) and he said the best goalkeepers don't save the ball, the ball comes to them. Bit of a corny phrase, but you get the idea.

A good reference to Peter Shilton, who was so good as a youngster that Leicester let Gordon Banks go to Stoke. I watched Shilton once and indeed the ball did "come to him" but he had an amazing way of selling a dummy to the poor bloke trying to score.

[Hoop Blah]

Have you also noticed how so many shots seem to go straight at him? That is a sign of great positioning. I had the honour of spending half a day with Peter Shilton a couple of weeks back (get me) and he said the best goalkeepers don't save the ball, the ball comes to them. Bit of a corny phrase, but you get the idea.

Totally agree with this bit, it's something I've been banging on about for years, especially where Federici is concerned as he often makes the average look spectaular and wins many fans for his apparent 'great shot stopping'.

It's not being a great shot stopper that makes you a great keeper.

It is not a coincidence that his run in the team has coincided with our run in the league. Of course he is not the soul reason, but he is a great foundation and has allowed us to nick games. Federici has cost us games this season. Alex McCarthy is a better option now and will be an even better option in the future. I am willing to wager anyone that he will be winning England caps in the next 5 years.

I'm not sure he'll be an England keeper as it's far too early for that, and as I said yesterday there are plenty of very good young English keepers for him to compete against (he was basically 4th choice for the U21s). It wouldn't surprise me if he did win England caps at some point though.

As for the thread being as bad as you make out, I think you're getting a bit carried away. The consensus is that he's had an excellent run of games but that now might be the time to bring back the more experienced Federici who, presumably, McDermott felt was his best keeper not so long ago.

McCarthy has done well, but he's made mistakes too and has looked nervous at times. Is a set of play off games the best place for the club to be learning about him handling those nerves?

[Hoop Blah]

Anyone who seriously believes that captaincy is unimportant clearly hasn't played football or any other sport at a decent level.

Most of the other countries in the world just pick the most experienced player and that's if they can be bothered at all (I've heard of teams who put the names in a hat). The only sport where captaincy is really important is Cricket.

Capello for instance is bemused by the importance that people put on what is essentially a piece of material that goes around your arm and in his first press conference cited Del Piero and Maldini as examples of the most experienced being the Captain. At Barca it's Puyol at Madrid Iker, before him Raul and before him Hierro.

I'll concede that in football it is important off the pitch as players can go to the captain if they have a problem (Ivar is still club captain at Reading probably for the reason that he is guess what? The most experienced player).However, on the pitch if you're a high level player and you need to rely on one man to get you geed up during a game then you are in trouble because 11 players have to stand up and be counted hence the reason it's a team game. Your over reliance on a captain is probably why you only got to a decent level and not a high one.

All well and good but we're talking about English clubs with largely English mentalities. They do look for someone to show a bit of leadership and offer a bit of guidence when things get tough.

You need strong leaders in the team, wearing the armband or not, and I don't think we have those at the moment. Giving the right man the armband gives them a better platform to lead and dictate things and that shouldn't be overlooked.

[Svlad Cjelli]

I think this "more experienced keeper" argument is being massively over-stated by those who favour Feds. They're both relatively inexperienced oin the grand scheme of things, and I think RECENT experience and being in the mindset of playing games regularly is much more valuable than past experience but not having played a game for over 3 months.

Freshness >>>>>>>>>>>> staleness.

[Hoop Blah]

Federici isn't the most experienced keeper in the world no, but he has been part of the squad for 3 or 4 years now and has been involved in lots of success and failures. He's witnessed first hand the ups and downs and how to deal with them.

That counts for quite a bit.

Personally I don't think I'd be swapping him back in but I'm not his biggest fan. McDermott clearly preferred him over McCarthy previously though so may still be that way inclined. Conceeding 3 goals gives him an excuse if he was looking for it. 2 were soft and that might be enough to nugde McDermott back to Federici for the crunch games now that he has a choice.

[brendywendy]

if that was how BmcD worked, fed would have been dropped for mcarthy, andersson or hamer 2 years ago.

[Drew_3]

This is probably the worst thread I've ever had the misfortune of reading on HNA?

If you were at Leeds, you will have seen one of the finest performances from a Reading goalkeeper since the days of Shaka Hislop. He commanded his area, pulled off sensational saves and his distribution was responsible for two attacking moves. Have you also noticed how so many shots seem to go straight at him? That is a sign of great positioning. I had the honour of spending half a day with Peter Shilton a couple of weeks back (get me) and he said the best goalkeepers don't save the ball, the ball comes to them. Bit of a corny phrase, but you get the idea.

More importantly, his preference for throwing the ball means that we have adopted a more attractive and more effective style of football. I also bumped into Jay Tabb in Sainsbury's week before last (been a good month for footballer interaction) and he said that Alex McCarthy's number one fan at the club is Jimmy Kebe. How often do you see Jimmy Kebe launching a counter attack from a Federici kick? It is frankly laughable that fans think Federici has better distribution - you have all been bought by the fact he kicks it in a way you've seen on Fifa 2011. It so frequently amounts to bugger all!

It is not a coincidence that his run in the team has coincided with our run in the league. Of course he is not the soul reason, but he is a great foundation and has allowed us to nick games. Federici has cost us games this season. Alex McCarthy is a better option now and will be an even better option in the future. I am willing to wager anyone that he will be winning England caps in the next 5 years.

^^This a MILLION times over

Its essentially what I was getting at in my post, but you have put it much better!!

[Hoop Blah]

if that was how BmcD worked, fed would have been dropped for mcarthy, andersson or hamer 2 years ago.

Eh? If what was how he worked, and how would that mean Federici would've been dropped?

[JimmytheJim]

This is probably the worst thread I've ever had the misfortune of reading on HNA?

If you were at Leeds, you will have seen one of the finest performances from a Reading goalkeeper since the days of Shaka Hislop. He commanded his area, pulled off sensational saves and his distribution was responsible for two attacking moves. Have you also noticed how so many shots seem to go straight at him? That is a sign of great positioning. I had the honour of spending half a day with Peter Shilton a couple of weeks back (get me) and he said the best goalkeepers don't save the ball, the ball comes to them. Bit of a corny phrase, but you get the idea.

More importantly, his preference for throwing the ball means that we have adopted a more attractive and more effective style of football. I also bumped into Jay Tabb in Sainsbury's week before last (been a good month for footballer interaction) and he said that Alex McCarthy's number one fan at the club is Jimmy Kebe. How often do you see Jimmy Kebe launching a counter attack from a Federici kick? It is frankly laughable that fans think Federici has better distribution - you have all been bought by the fact he kicks it in a way you've seen on Fifa 2011. It so frequently amounts to bugger all!

It is not a coincidence that his run in the team has coincided with our run in the league. Of course he is not the soul reason, but he is a great foundation and has allowed us to nick games. Federici has cost us games this season. Alex McCarthy is a better option now and will be an even better option in the future. I am willing to wager anyone that he will be winning England caps in the next 5 years.

if the shot he spilled had gone in rather than just spinning past the post, or if his dallying on the ball outside the area had resulted in a goal, would you have still had the same opinion of his display?

mccarthy is a keeper with an enormous amount of potential. but his supporters all seem to be indulging in this ridiculous hyperbole, embodied in the very first line of your post. it is annoying that every opinion here needs to be stated as an extreme. but things are not that black and white. mccarthy is clearly a good player and clearly has a great deal of potential, but if you are knocking federici, then you can oxf*rd off to tibet, come back, and oxf*rd off again, because he has been an excellent servant for this club and has consistently performed to a very high standard for reading fc.

[loyalroyal4life]

Anyone who seriously believes that captaincy is unimportant clearly hasn't played football or any other sport at a decent level.

It's important - but not important enough to make you choose an inferior player who is a good captain ahead of a superior player.

What like Alex Pearce?

[facaldaqui]

This is probably the worst thread I've ever had the misfortune of reading on HNA?

If you were at Leeds, you will have seen one of the finest performances from a Reading goalkeeper since the days of Shaka Hislop. He commanded his area, pulled off sensational saves and his distribution was responsible for two attacking moves. Have you also noticed how so many shots seem to go straight at him? That is a sign of great positioning. I had the honour of spending half a day with Peter Shilton a couple of weeks back (get me) and he said the best goalkeepers don't save the ball, the ball comes to them. Bit of a corny phrase, but you get the idea.

More importantly, his preference for throwing the ball means that we have adopted a more attractive and more effective style of football. I also bumped into Jay Tabb in Sainsbury's week before last (been a good month for footballer interaction) and he said that Alex McCarthy's number one fan at the club is Jimmy Kebe. How often do you see Jimmy Kebe launching a counter attack from a Federici kick? It is frankly laughable that fans think Federici has better distribution - you have all been bought by the fact he kicks it in a way you've seen on Fifa 2011. It so frequently amounts to bugger all!

It is not a coincidence that his run in the team has coincided with our run in the league. Of course he is not the soul reason, but he is a great foundation and has allowed us to nick games. Federici has cost us games this season. Alex McCarthy is a better option now and will be an even better option in the future. I am willing to wager anyone that he will be winning England caps in the next 5 years.

if the shot he spilled had gone in rather than just spinning past the post, or if his dallying on the ball outside the area had resulted in a goal, would you have still had the same opinion of his display?

mccarthy is a keeper with an enormous amount of potential. but his supporters all seem to be indulging in this ridiculous hyperbole, embodied in the very first line of your post. it is annoying that every opinion here needs to be stated as an extreme. but things are not that black and white. mccarthy is clearly a good player and clearly has a great deal of potential, but if you are knocking federici, then you can oxf*rd off to tibet, come back, and oxf*rd off again, because he has been an excellent servant for this club and has consistently performed to a very high standard for reading fc.

Yes, I really don't see why many of the people who extol McCarthy need to take the opportunity to knock Feds. We're lucky to have two such keepers, and they are both Reading players who give their all for the club. But all goalies make mistakes, so neither is perfect.

[The Goat was fed]

This is probably the worst thread I've ever had the misfortune of reading on HNA?

If you were at Leeds, you will have seen one of the finest performances from a Reading goalkeeper since the days of Shaka Hislop. He commanded his area, pulled off sensational saves and his distribution was responsible for two attacking moves. Have you also noticed how so many shots seem to go straight at him? That is a sign of great positioning. I had the honour of spending half a day with Peter Shilton a couple of weeks back (get me) and he said the best goalkeepers don't save the ball, the ball comes to them. Bit of a corny phrase, but you get the idea.

More importantly, his preference for throwing the ball means that we have adopted a more attractive and more effective style of football. I also bumped into Jay Tabb in Sainsbury's week before last (been a good month for footballer interaction) and he said that Alex McCarthy's number one fan at the club is Jimmy Kebe. How often do you see Jimmy Kebe launching a counter attack from a Federici kick? It is frankly laughable that fans think Federici has better distribution - you have all been bought by the fact he kicks it in a way you've seen on Fifa 2011. It so frequently amounts to bugger all!

It is not a coincidence that his run in the team has coincided with our run in the league. Of course he is not the soul reason, but he is a great foundation and has allowed us to nick games. Federici has cost us games this season. Alex McCarthy is a better option now and will be an even better option in the future. I am willing to wager anyone that he will be winning England caps in the next 5 years.

if the shot he spilled had gone in rather than just spinning past the post, or if his dallying on the ball outside the area had resulted in a goal, would you have still had the same opinion of his display?

mccarthy is a keeper with an enormous amount of potential. but his supporters all seem to be indulging in this ridiculous hyperbole, embodied in the very first line of your post. it is annoying that every opinion here needs to be stated as an extreme. but things are not that black and white. mccarthy is clearly a good player and clearly has a great deal of potential, but if you are knocking federici, then you can oxf*rd off to tibet, come back, and oxf*rd off again, because he has been an excellent servant for this club and has consistently performed to a very high standard for reading fc.

1. The shot he "spilled" took a wicked deflection, he did well in my eyes. But you're right, of course I would have looked at his performance differently, but the fact is, it was saved. Had it gone in, I would have probably have made a measured judgement something like this..."Well he could have done better there, but it took a massive deflection and he has been the Goalkeeper during one of our best runs in recent times keeping several clean sheets and pulling off many incredible saves on the way. I don't think he should be dropped."

2. The "dallying" where he successfully rushed off his line to stop a goal scoring opportunity before Ian Harte got in his way? Come on mate.

My "extreme" view was brought on by the ridiculous suggestion that he should be dropped. He could have done nothing about the goals on Saturday and has been brilliant for us. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of Fed and he was unfortunate to lose his place to A-Mac through injury. However, what sort of message does it send out to drop a player who has been so impressive?

When you look at teams that are successful, a key factor is always competition for places. Dropping a player who has been so impressive undermines that completely.